Trump takes a tougher stance on Israeli settlement construction in Palestinian territory

US President Donald Trump has warned Israel that building new settlements is "not helpful" to Middle East peace efforts, thus taking a tougher stance towards Benjamin Netanyahu's government, Associated Press reports, via Patria.

However, the White House made it clear that Trump's administration has "not taken an official stance on settlement construction activity," distancing itself from the position of previous administrations that considered settlements illegitimate.

Trump is considered a supporter of the new settlement construction project. Shortly before taking office, he fiercely criticized the Obama administration for not vetoing a UN Security Council measure condemning the construction of such settlements.

However, a White House statement released on Thursday said:

- While we do not believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their existing boundaries is not helpful in achieving that goal.

The White House statement also said that the President will discuss this issue with Netanyahu at a meeting on February 15.

At the same time, representatives of Israeli settlers are ignoring the American warning. However, the Yesha settlement council stated on Friday that they look forward to future cooperation with the Trump administration.

The White House statement came hours after Netanyahu vowed to build a new settlement, the first in 20 years, "as soon as possible," thus promising compensation for the destruction of an illegally built settlement by order of the Supreme Court.

Netanyahu often clashed with former President Barack Obama during his eight-year term, but the new US President announced that Israel would be a "better partner."

However, Trump seems to have already slowed down on his earlier promise to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Netanyahu's promise to build new settlements in the West Bank comes at a time when Israeli security forces are completing the evacuation of the illegally built settlement of Amona, where they broke into a synagogue to forcibly remove dozens of Israeli protesters. Netanyahu's government, which is struggling for settlement construction, unsuccessfully tried to overturn the evacuation order for Amona, but the Israeli Supreme Court rejected all appeals after determining that the settlement was illegally built 20 years ago on private Palestinian land.

Israeli observers Peace Now, who oppose settlement construction, claim that Israel has not officially violated the construction freeze decision since 1992.

However, during that time, it expanded existing settlements and allowed the creation of dozens of unauthorized units. In total, about 400,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, and about 200,000 in East Jerusalem.

Palestinians claim both areas, which they regained from Israel in the 1967 war, as parts of a future independent state. The international community opposes settlement construction in the occupied parts of the Palestinian territory.

Israel's close allies, Great Britain and Germany, as well as the European Union, have criticized Netanyahu's approval of the construction of 3,000 new housing units in the West Bank.

Such activities threaten trust and make the "two-state solution," with Israel protected from terrorism and a sovereign Palestinian state, a much more difficult goal, said British Minister for the Middle East, Tobias Ellwood.

Amona is the largest of about 100 unauthorized settlements in the West Bank, built without formal permission but with the support of the Israeli government.

The Israeli Supreme Court ruled last year that the entire settlement was built without permission and ordered its removal.